The Admirals first took to the ice in the winter of 1970 as an amateur club known as the Milwaukee Wings. They lost their first game on January 25 when the Madison All-Stars beat them 17–7. They got their first win five days later when they defeated the Milwaukee Winter Club 10–8.[citation needed]

The next year the team was sold by the original owner Reed Fansher to a group of investors. One of the investors, Erwin J. Merar, owned an appliance store. The team was renamed the "Admirals" after a brand of household appliances sold in Merar's store.[citation needed]

Beginning with the 1973–74 season the Admirals joined the newly formed United States Hockey League. Their first season in a league was not particularly successful as they ended the season in last place in their division. They won only 11 games, lost 35, and tied two games that season.[citation needed]

They stayed a part of the IHL until it joined the American Hockey League for the 2001–02[2] season when the IHL ceased operations. Five other IHL franchises also joined the AHL that season. The team was allowed to keep their nickname despite the presence of the Norfolk Admirals in the AHL, as Milwaukee has had the nickname since 1977, well before the Norfolk team was established as the Hampton Roads Admirals in the ECHL. In the 2015-16 season, Norfolk moved to the AHL's Pacific Division as the newest incarnation of the San Diego Gulls.

They won their first Calder Cup in 2004 when they defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Prior to the finals, Milwaukee needed seven games to defeat the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks in the first round. Then the Admirals defeated the Chicago Wolves in six games to advance to the conference finals. The Admirals then eliminated the Rochester Americans four games to one. Milwaukee went on to sweep the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to win the Calder Cup. The Admirals completed a rare postseason run in which they needed one fewer games to eliminate their opponents in each subsequent series.[3]

On 1 August 2006, the Admirals unveiled their newest logo to the public at the Henry Maier Festival Park (also known as the Summerfest grounds). The logo came with a radical color change for the team, away from red and blue hues to one of black, white and light blue. They also unveiled their new slogan, "Never Say Die".[6]

On March 16, 2016, Milwaukee Admirals owner/CEO Harris Turer along with Wisconsin Center District (WCD) announced that the Admirals signed a 10-year contract, bringing the Admirals to the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena for the 2016-17 AHL season.[7] This 10-year contract also results in a $6.4 million dollar investment to bring the arena up to AHL standards with the Admirals contributing 2 million and the rest being supplied by the Wisconsin Center District. [8]

The Admirals have been the top-level affiliate of the Nashville Predators since that team's founding in 1998. On 22 February 2010, the clubs signed a new agreement that extended that relationship through the 2011–12 season with a mutual option for 2012–13.[9]

"I like to say that for our players, the road to Nashville runs through Milwaukee and a look at our roster illustrates this. (T)his is the kind of environment that we want our prospects to develop in."

Among the most heated rivalries the Admirals have is with the Chicago Wolves, which has become dubbed the Amtrak Rivalry, after the Hiawatha commuter train from Amtrak that travels back and forth from Chicago to Milwaukee.[citation needed]